Green light over the city: an astronaut aboard the ISS captured stunning footage of the aurora borealis from space (video).

Recently, a member of the International Space Station (ISS) crew, known for his stunning images of Earth from space, captured new photos of the aurora borealis occurring on our planet, reports Space.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit pointed his camera at the green aurora shimmering against the backdrop of city lights at night. The resulting images of this colorful atmospheric phenomenon were compiled into a short video shared on social media platform X. However, the astronaut did not specify the exact region of the planet where the ISS was flying when the aurora was observed.

Auroras occur on Earth when charged solar particles enter our atmosphere. This typically happens during geomagnetic storms caused by plasma ejections from the Sun. Solar particles interact with molecules of various gases in the Earth's atmosphere, causing them to glow in different colors. Most commonly, auroras appear green.

Don Pettit arrived at the ISS in September of last year aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz and is well-known for his extraterrestrial photography skills.

For instance, in October of last year, the astronaut captured a photograph showing city lights in northern Mexico as bright, dynamic streaks. In the same month, Pettit photographed a sphere of water, resembling Jupiter, which he created on the ISS using food coloring.

In November of last year, Pettit photographed the trail left by a massive Starship rocket in the Earth's atmosphere during its sixth test flight. Then in December, the astronaut took an astonishingly clear picture of distant stars and galaxies.

On January 1, 2025, NASA astronaut posted a magnificent photo of yet another aurora borealis.

At 69 years old, Don Pettit has flown to space for the fourth time and is the oldest active NASA astronaut.